New parents often are initially overwhelmed with both the joy and responsibility brought into their lives through the birth of a newborn baby. A primary concern for parents and caretakers is proper nourishment for their infant, since a majority of the baby's waking moments are devoted to feeding. Feedings can be exhausting when trying to effectively balance the variables that contribute to this process. Knowing how to hold the baby correctly and the proper time to burp the baby are critical factors that can reduce the occurrence of reflux, while minimizing spitting up. For example, often times it is recommended with newborn babies that they be burped each time they consume two ounces of formula. Precisely determining when that desired amount of formula has been consumed by a baby can be difficult, however, particularly while holding the baby in feeding position. Thus, babies often times are burped either too often or too little, neither of which is good for a baby. Alternatively, the feeding process must be frequently broken up to try to gauge how much of the formula has been taken from the bottle.
Use of the present invention to measure and regulate the amount of formula fed to the baby advantageously ensures correct feeding methods, resulting in proper nourishment and minimizing related complications for the baby. The present invention was designed for parents and caretakers who bottle feed or supplement with formula using a baby bottle. Of course, the device of the present invention also could be used by a caretaker to feed previously obtained breast milk to a baby, when the mother is away.
In the past, others have created devices and systems for regulating the feeding of formula to a baby, but none of these devices or systems comprises the unique combination of structural features of the present invention, which result in its advantages over those prior art devices and systems when used to feed a baby.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,501 to Lyons describes a bottle assembly having a check valve arrangement, which allows equalizing air to enter the bottle during the pauses in the baby's sucking on the nipple. This reference does not disclose a metered dispensing device, however, instead focusing on the use of disc valves that control flow from the bottle to the nipple. Thus, Lyons's device could not be used in the manner of the present invention to administer a specific amount to formula to a baby.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,862 to Stringfellow describes a liquid measuring and dispensing device of the type often used in connection with dispensing alcoholic beverages, which would not be useful for the purpose of regulating the feeding a baby in the manner of the present invention. The device of Stringfellow comprises a measuring dispensing container which includes a trapped portion 12 with a vent tube 11 flowing from the trap into the bottle. Liquid pours from the bottle through the opening 3 into the measuring dispensing chamber and fills until the liquid reaches a height to fill the trap and thereby close the vent line. The difference in the size of the exit spout 6 and the entrance area 10 to the measuring chamber provides for the buildup of the liquid in the container to fill the trap 12.
Each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,054,254, 6,113,257 and 6,089,389 to Inbar and Sharon describe bottles having two or more compartments that are separate, for example, by means of a floating valve arrangement that is in contact with the neck of the bottle. These patents teach that a purpose of that compartmentalizing using such valve means is to permit mixing of the contents of the two containers at an appropriate time to prepare the formula for administration to a baby. There is no teaching or suggestion in these patents, however, of the dispensing and regulation device of the instant invention, having the advantages inherent therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,561 to Drobish describes a metering device for dispensing uniform volumes of liquid from a container, which metering device works by employing a series of concentric tubes and an air vent to limit the flow of liquid into a collecting chamber within the container. More specifically, liquid enters an accumulating chamber 20 through an inlet opening 27 and rises in the chamber until it covers vent hold 28. Once vent hold 28 is covered, liquid will stop flowing because of the vacuum created in the bottle due to lack of air. The bottle is then turned upright, allowing the liquid to enter into communication with the outlet 17 and further allowing air to go back into the bottle through the small air tube 23. The metering chamber 20 is partially segregated from the collecting chamber 21 by a transverse baffle 25, which projects horizontally from the lower end of the vertical wall 18 intermediate the metering chamber 20 and collecting chamber 21. Again, the device of Drobish is not suitable for use in dispensing formula to a baby in the manner accomplished through the instant invention.
None of the foregoing references, taken either singularly or in combination, describes or suggests the present invention comprising a container having an angled baffle that defines a measuring chamber and a consumption chamber, which together enable the user to determine the amount of liquid placed each time in the measuring chamber and transfer that measured liquid from the measuring chamber to the consumption chamber (for feeding to the baby).
Moreover, in light of the limitations of the devices and systems described in the above patents and the overall state of the prior art in this field, a need exists for a formula dispensing and regulation system that permits a parent or caretaker to consistently measure and feed a specific volume of formula to a baby, thereby ensuring that the parent or caretaker can effectively regulate the consumption of formula (or other liquid) by the baby (or infant) between, e.g., required burpings, thereby properly nourishing the baby and minimizing any complications it might experience. That need and other objects are fully met by the present invention and its methods of use described herein.